[.ca] Al Capone Does My Shirts (ISBN 0142403709)

a sensational read:
Twelve-year-old Moose Flannagan doesn't know how to feel about his new home. Sure, it's neat to live right in San Francisco Bay, but the neighbors leave something to be desired. You see, Moose and his family live on Alcatraz Island, where Moose's father has a new job as electrician and prison guard. At school on the mainland, Moose is a bit of a misfit. Not only do the other guys think living on Alcatraz is a little weird, they also don't understand why Moose can't stay after school to play baseball. Instead, Moose has to head home to watch his sister Natalie. Natalie has autism, a condition that had not even been identified in 1935, when this novel is set. No one is quite sure how to deal with Natalie. Most "experts" tell the Flannagans to put her in an institution, but the family would rather try a variety of experimental therapies, which yield mostly disappointing results. Moose is the only one who can really reach Natalie, and he constantly clashes with his mother about the best way to work with her. Moose and Natalie discover a new kind of community among the several families who live on Alcatraz Island, including bossy seven-year-old Theresa and the warden's manipulative, sneaky (but also kind of cute) daughter Piper. In the end, the kids cooperate --- with a little help from Al Capone himself --- to find a place where Natalie can finally belong. Believe it or not, this novel's unusual setting is based on fact --- the families of Alcatraz prison guards actually did live on the island. The author includes a helpful note explaining the historical facts behind the story, as well as a brief note about autism. What really makes this a winning novel, though, is not the setting but its main character. Moose, who narrates the story, is responsible and trustworthy in spite of himself. The love he feels for his sister despite the frustrations she causes him shines through all his words. The relationships among Moose, his hardworking father and his well-meaning mother are also rich and dynamic. Even without its connection to the famous mobster, AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS would still be a real hit. (...)

Every 10-12 year old should read this book:
My 10 year old daughter read this book in just over 2 days! She could not put it down!!! After reading Choldenko's "Notes from a Liar and her Dog" she could not wait for this to be published. We are buying them as gifts for many summer birthdays. I am now reading it and am thrown right back into my childhood of many years ago. Well written (as was the first), gets right into a 10-12 year olds way of thinking. Children between these ages will be able to totally relate. We can't wait for next one!

You and Your Students/Children Should Read This!:
This is a beautiful story that mixes all the elements of great fiction. Historical setting and characters, emotional involvment with genuine characters, laugh-out-loud humor, and a fresh writing style combine to form a unique and sensitive story. Highly reccomended for anyone interested in Alcatraz, Autistic children, or anyone looking for well-done modern kids lit piece. Also reccomended: Notes From a Liar and Her Dog(same author).

Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place:
On January 4, 1935, Matthew "Moose" Flanagan and family leave the comforts of Santa Monica for life on Alactraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. Moose's 15-year-old sister Nat has severe autism (the term autism was not coined until 1943) and her behavior fits the classic profile of Kanner's, or classic/infantile autism. She is preoccupied with her button collection; she counts objects and creatures in her environment and has memorized page numbers in book indices and tables of contents. Devoted to routine, she has meltdowns when unexpected changes are introduced. Her speech is primarily echolalic. She also has a flair for numbers. Their father accepted a job as an electrician and sometime guard at the infamous prison and their mother keeps insisting Nat is 10 so as to stave off the encroachment of time. The rationale for this is to ensure the girl a place in a special school that has recently opened in San Francisco. Moose, despite his challenges on the home front appears to have adjusted well. He takes the daily ferry with the other children who live on the island to the public school in the city. An avid baseball enthusiast, Moose falls in with a group of boys who love the sport as much as he does. Moose's second biggest problem after minding his older sister is the warden's daughter, Piper. A sneaky snitch, she has a bizarre attraction to notoriety and will do just about anything to meet Al Capone, notorious gangster and probably the most infamous prisoner in Alcatraz. She hatches a scheme to have the prisoners launder her classmates' clothing; the catch here is that she sells this service as "having your clothes washed by Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly." She alternately bribes and blackmails Moose to help her launch these schemes; she even uses his sister as part of her underhanded conniving plots. Despite some rather funny, touching and serious issues and set backs, Moose soldiers on, surviving Piper and the aura among his "city" classmates of living on the island once known as The Rock. He and other kids look for baseballs the cons have hit over their highly enclosed baseball diamond as these baseballs carry the "aura" of having been a part of a prison game. This brilliantly written book is historically accurate and I like the way this author cleverly included Al Capone's mother in the story. This was done so naturally and so plausibly that readers don't even question this. Choldenko also includes a bibliography replete with notes about Alcatraz Island, citing sources and explaining where history "meets" fiction. She skillfully creates a work of historical fiction that is truly outstanding. I found the early treatments for people with severe autism interesting and the descriptions of the woefully inadequate provisions that were made for people in need of services, especially during the Depression. A truly, brilliant work. I can't recommend it highly enough and I will certainly recommend this author to the local elementary and middle schools. Her work is truly extraordinary.

"Al Capone Does My Shirts":
"Al Capone Does My Shirts" is about a 12-year old boy named Moose, whose family moves to Alcatraz in 1934 for his dad's job as a prison guard there. If you don't know, Alcatraz is a maximum-security prison on a rocky island across the bay from San Francisco. Although it is no longer in use, in the 1930's, Alcatraz was prison sweet prison to such notorious gangsters as Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly. You could understand why Moose isn't excatly thrilled to live there. But the other reason they moved is so his sister, Natalie, could go to the Esther P. Marinoff school. Natalie has a disease that is today called autism, but was unidentified in the 30's. Moose, wanting his sister to be "normal", agrees to move for her sake. Still, he isn't happy about living on what he calls "a 12-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turds and surrounded by water". But the other families that live on Alcatraz might change his mind. This book is both funny and sad, and Moose is very easy to relate to. Other very dynamic characters make "Al Capone Does My Shirts" interesting. You'll finish it quickly and wish it were longer.